Page 45 of Feral

That made my back straighten and I turned away.

“I liked it,” she whispered.

My head swung back around and I stared at her.

“I know that sounds weird but I did.”

“No, that’s not…that’s not strange,” I said, trying very hard to keep my voice even. “The matin’ bite causes certain instincts. I thought we’d be able to avoid most of them but it seems that it’s gonna happen one way or another. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I find this quite fascinating, actually.”

It was a perfectly good response to a strange situation like this one. But it still made my stomach drop and my heart lurch. This was nothing more than an up close research project for her, a side benefit to the job of hunting down the artifact. And that fact should’ve been a good thing, should’ve made me relieved.

It didn’t do anything of the sort.

“I’m glad ya can find somethin’ good out of this situation. Perhaps ya can add yer experience to whatever information is in yer library. Make my species less of a mystery for Mundanes,” my voice came out far harsher than I’d intended and she drew back, as if I’d struck her.

“I would never share this without your permission. It wouldn’t be ethical.”

“Well, I can tell ya right now ya don’t have my permission. This is all supposed to be private, sacred. And here I’ve gone and done it with a lass I don’t even know!”

“There’s no reason to yell at me, I just said I wouldn’t share it. And this was your idea in the first place. I was perfectly content just being a friend.”

“It wouldn’t have worked! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have James doing this.”

“Well, that goes for two of us,” she threw her books and notebook into her tote and flung the table back.

“Where are ya going?” I asked.

“Out of this cabin and away from you.”

“Yer hungry.”

“Yes I know! And your concern for me is nothing more than that physiological response. If not for this bite you wouldn’t care whether I starved or not, so don’t pretend you give a damn beyond that.”

Her chest was heaving, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. It was the most inconvenient time to lose control, to let the primal side of mating come to the fore. But it happened so swiftly that I wasn’t even aware of it until I’d grabbed Daphne by the waist and hauled her into my lap.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked, breathless.

“Makin’ sure ya stay put and eat.”

“Fraser MacDonald, you let me go right now!”

She hit my chest with small fist and all it managed to do was rile me up further, especially since she was moving around on my lap at the same time.

“Lass, stop that...stop wiggling!”

She opened her mouth to yell at me when the words stalled and her eyes widened. Between the way I’d pulled her into my lap and the way Daphne had been moving around, the bloody lass was now straddling me. And if her gasp was any indication, she could feel exactly how she’d affected me.

My arm wrapped around her from behind just in an attempt to keep her still but all it did was pull her closer to me until her breasts were brushing against my chest. Daphne’s hands dug into my shoulders and I told myself it was anger that had her hanging onto me so tightly.

“Stay still,” I ground out.

“I…I need to get off your lap.”

“Naw, ya don’t. Ya need to stay here.”

Her face was level with mine in this position and though she wasn’t close enough to kiss, I felt the whisper of her breath against my skin. I’d kissed her last night, something I’d never done with a Mundane when in my true form. I had been worried about scaring her, but Daphne had moaned as if kissing me was the best thing she’d ever done. I wanted to feel that again, to know that she wasn’t afraid of who I really was. But I couldn’t have that here, or anywhere. That wasn’t going to be for us.

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